The Council is the governing body responsible for the finance, property investments and general business of the University, and for setting the general strategic direction of the institution. The Council has adopted the following Statement of Primary Responsibilities in accordance with the principles contained within the CUC Governance Code of Practice:

The Council meets on a regular basis, usually six times a year. At each meeting it generally receives a briefing from a senior manager about issues of key importance to the University. The Council has reserved certain types of decision to itself and these are defined in Ordinance No. 4 (Matters reserved to Council for decision). They include approval of the University's strategic plans, financial targets, determination of key issues such as whether there should be redundancies, and the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor. The Council has delegated other decisions to the Vice-Chancellor or the Finance Committee as defined in the

The Council monitors management and institutional performance through the use of key performance indicators, using a balanced scorecard approach.

It has a majority of members who are neither staff nor students of the University (described as lay or independent members), one of whom is the Pro-Chancellor. The Pro-Chancellor chairs meetings of the Council. Also included in its members are representatives of the staff of the University and the student body. None of the lay members receive any payment, apart from the reimbursement of expenses, for the work which they do for the University. No member of Council or person connected to a member of Council receives any benefit from scholarships or bursaries awarded to our students. For the complete membership of the Council, please see link above.

Members of Council serve on a number of committees and become involved in other activities and issues across the University, depending on interests and availability.

Appointments of lay members are made following advertisement and on the basis of recommendations from the Nominations Committee. The only exception to this, made in recognition of the important relationship the University has with Lancaster City Council, is that the City Council may nominate one of its elected members eligible to serve as a lay member of the University Council.